Crimson and Snow
by Parjiono Tello
Summary: The valedictorian of her year, Tootsuki Academy 90th generation freshman Rindou Kobayashi is aiming to take the top of Tootsuki Academy alongside her rival and fellow freshman Eishi Tsukasa. The story of a girl who is later known as the 2nd seat of the elite ten. Rindou/Eishi. Revised
1. Chapter 1

**Shokugeki no Soma**

© Shun Saeki, Yuuto Tsukuda, Yuuki Morisaki

* * *

 **A/N:** Some of you might notice that I have uploaded similar story five days ago. That's right. This is a revised version with some addition and changes. Your feedback will also help me become better. Happy reading.

* * *

It's that time of the year again. The air smells like spring. The season spring has always been associated with the meaning of new beginning. Here in Japan, it's where the new academic term begin. Where students are full of energy and their minds are filled with various new goals. Tootsuki Academy is not an exception.

Being a student of the school known for its competitiveness where only one percent of its student get to graduate and the rest of them simply a stepping stone to polish those one percents, one will most likely feel burdened and nervous. But all of those negative feelings don't seem to appear at all in Rindou Kobayashi. Rather, she looks so energetic and confident. Unleashing a cat smile, she walks cheerfully through the crowd of freshmen to find her seat.

Today the opening ceremony for the 90th generation freshmen of Tootsuki academy will be held. And this girl, Rindou Kobayashi is the chosen valedictorian of her year and will receive the award for being the best freshman of her year on the entrance exam.

"Geez, why would they inform me about this barely two days before the ceremony though...I went through so much trouble to prepare a speech"

She grumbles as she takes her seat on the backstage.

"And now we'll proceed to give the award and some speeh from the freshman representative, Rindou Kobayashi"

The announcement from the MC then followed by applause from the freshmen.

"Yes"

As the MC announces Rindou steps up to the stage confidently. Rindou is wearing her Tootsuki uniform complete with all its attributes. Her short, wavy crimson hair falls to her shoulder perfectly. Beneath her blazer is a sweater which sleeves reaches and covers some parts of her palm.

Her speech went without problem. It looks like she's not distracted at all by everyone's attention or rather she's having fun with it. After she received her award, she returns to her seat on the backstage. The ceremonial address by the chairman Senzaemon Nakiri then conludes today's opening ceremony. All student later dismissed to attend their first lesson.

" _Sensei!_ "

While all other students are taking their way out of the place Rindou spares some time to address the chairman, the man who is known troughout the culinary world as 'Food's Demon King'.

"Oh, Kobayashi-kun. You look energetic today as well"

Senzaemon is one of the people that have acknowledged Rindou's boundless talent since her middle-school year and she's easily one of his favourite student.

"Did I make any mistake during my speech?" she asked. Afraid of committing any mistake during her speech.

"No, everything is fine." Senzaemon reassures.

"Is that so? I'm glad. I only have two days to prepare it after all"

Again, she grumbles about being informed late for her appointment as the valedictorian. When prospective students are being informed about their test result, they will receive a mail that contains only their grade and that year's average score.

"Hahah! Sorry to inform you in such short notice" the old man apologized.

It was not everyday that the administrative staffs are slow at handling things so it was unexpected.

"It's okay~! By the way _sensei,_ did you see Momo-chan anywhere today?"

She's talking about Momo Akanegakubo, a fellow freshman. They are good friends as well as they are rivals. Momo herself is no pushover. Her grades did not fall behind Rindou's and shall Rindou is unable to attend the ceremony, Momo is among those who is possibly chosen to take her place.

"Akanegakubo-kun? Let's see, I haven't seen her today. That girl is quite timid, maybe she just left right away after the ceremony ends" Senzaemon explained.

Momo Akanegakubo is also a student from Tootsuki Academy Middle School Division that is not unnoticed by Senzaemon. He had met the girl several times personally and even though Momo is a shy girl, she has gotten used to Senzaemon.

"I see.."

Rindou expected to go to class together with Momo today. It's still unkown if they will end up in the same class for their first day though. But Rindou sure doesn't want to miss the chance to show-off her valedictorian medal to her arch rival.

"So, how do you feel on your first day in high school?" Senzaemon asked her like a worried father.

"I like my new uniform~! It feels like wearing a blazer gives me this mature vibe and the most important thing, it's warm!" Rindou looks excited talking about her new uniform.

"I see. I'm glad you like it" That answer is not exactly the kind of answer Senzaemon had expected though. But even the Food's Demon God can't say 'no' to the adorable thing in front of him.

"By the way, _sensei,_ how's Erina-chan doing?" Rindou talked about Erina Nakiri. The prodigy of Tootsuki Academy Middle School Division and Senzaemon's granddaughter. The one labeled to have 'The God's Palate' and the one who is tipped to carry the future of Japanese culinary world in the future.

"She's fine. By the way, the two of haven't seen each other in a while, didn't you?"

Erina and Rindou have met several times during their middle school days. Being one of Tootsuki's top student it's no wonder that Rindou has made some acquaintances from the Nakiri. When Rindou graduated, Erina is still a first year student ready to advance to her second year.

"Yup. I don't usually listen to underclassmen's opinion but she sure gave some good advices sometimes. I'll play again with her during holiday if I have time~!"

Erina often helped Rindou in the past with her sharp sense of smell. She is one of the people the proud Rindou will listen to. In return, Erina also learnt some useful skills from Rindou.

"You don't have to force yourself if you're busy"

"It's alright~! Playing with Erina-chan is also important to relieve myself from my daily routines. I mean, she's one of the people that made school interesting after all."

"I see" Senzaemon replied in short. That reminds him that while being a _genki_ girl as she is, sometimes Rindou looks bored for some reason. Maybe it's because the demands from the middle school division is not catching up with her prodigious ability.

"Shouldn't you hurry? The class will start in thirty minutes" Senzaemon looks like he doesn't want one of his favorite student running late for her first class.

But actually the distance from the ceremony field and the school building is not really far. You can reach the school building from the field in twenty minutes by walking.

"Ah, you're right. I'll take my leave, then. Later, _sensei_!" She heads for the exit after offering Senzaemon good bye.

"Kobayashi-kun." Senzaemon calls for her. Looks like he has more to say. Rindou looks back and turn her body around. They're facing each other again.

"The nature of the high school division will not make you unpolished diamonds stay unnoticed and at some point you might be facing each other to fight for the top position."

"…"

Rindou left standing. Waiting for Senzaemon to continue his word. The spring wind that breezes makes the atmosphere can't be more suitable for moments like these. She gazes at the old man's eyes.

"You have the potential to take the top of this academy. But on your way to the top you will realize that you're not the only one capable for it. There will be obstacles you have to overcome."

She's still not replying.

"That's why I think you'll have more fun compared to when you're in the middle-school division"

Now she smirks a little. Senzaemon's word just lit a fire inside the soul of this fun-loving girl.

"I see..thank you, _sensei_! I'll remember what you taught me today!"

Letting out a smile, she replied to Senzaemon in an appreciative manner. She bows and then waves her hand as she walks away and left. From now on her goal has ben decided. To be Tootsuki's number one and survive the selection to come out as one of those one percent.

Usually she came to school riding her _Cadillac_ limousine, a white and luxury one indicating her status. But today she decided to walk her way to enjoy the atmosphere of spring. She thinks maybe she could comes up with an inspiration for new dish.

"Geez, as I thought walking alone is not fun at all" she complaints. Annoyed by the fact that Momo left her behind. Maybe Momo already knew what's waiting for her shall she stays there for too long and got caught. Smart girl.

Just moments later. She feels like something just dropped on her face. It was water. Rain suddenly started pouring down. Rindou ran to a nearby park to find shelter. Minutes later the rain got heavier. She tries to look for umbrella inside her bag but unfortunately she's not bringing any. This calls for the last option.

Rindou reached her phone and starts dialing. Not long after, the person on the other end of the phone answered.

"Hello? Yes, it's me. Sorry but can you pick me up at the park near the cherry-blossom field? Suddenly it's raining and I don't bring an umbrella with me"

She calls her driver and asks him to pick her up. Rindou's house is not too far from the academy so it wouldn't take long for him to get there.

"Alright. Thank you" she ends the phone call with a polite gratitude and locks her screen. The rain turns the usual smile on her face into a frown. Even though it's not really surprising since the sky was not all-clear and a little bit cloudy since morning, Rindou finds herself quite irritated.

A moment later Rindou noticed a faint image of someone running in the middle of the rain approaching where she takes shelter. When that person arrives, she can see that it's a boy wearing a Tootsuki uniform. He's more or less just as tall as Rindou is. The boy then took a seat just besides Rindou.

"Good morning" the boy greets her politely with a smile.

"Good morning" Rindou replied in response. He's the first guy she meets in high school. But it's still unknown if he's a senior or a fellow the past, Rindou hasn't made many male friends so this situation is a little bit awkward for her.

 _What to do? If this keeps up he'll think that I'm arrogant and unsociable!_

Rindou starts her inner monologue. The silence goes on. None of them saying aanything to each other.

 _What should I do? What should I do? What do people usually say to break the silence in a situation like this?_

She's panicking on the inside but her face totally looks calm and collected. She's still playing with her phoneto avoid doing things that could make the situation more awkward.

 _But hey, it's okay even if we stay in the silence like this, right? It's not like we'll be seeing each other again after this!_

Rindou takes a quick glance at him. If you look at him closely, he's pretty good looking. His bang covered his forehead and the style suits his hair perfectly. The man noticed Rindou's glance and he just smiles a little. Rindou quickly took her eyes off him.

 _But he looks like a really good person! Even smiling to a stranger like me when it looks like I'm judging him_

Rindou lets out a faint sigh. She builds up her courage and tries say something to the man. Still with her calm and collected expression.

"Heavy rain like this is troubling, right? It makes you can't hear other people properly"

 _I said it! But why about hearing of all things? Aah now he must be thinking that I'm weird!_

Her eyes gaze at the distant sky without telling anything. But inside, she's completely flustered.

The man looks at Rindou who looks like she's spacing out. He thinks that Rindou must be drowning in her own deep thought.

"I know, right. I'm not good at talking with loud voice either. So it's quite troubling" he responded. Rindou heard it. His response is better than what she had expected.

"Is that so?" now Rindou turns her face towards his.

 _Uwaaah! He played along with the topic I brought up! What a good person!_

"By the way, that uniform, are you a Tootsuki student?" the man asked.

 _Finally! A topic that doesn't sound made up_

"Yes" Rindou answered.

"Is that so? Thank god. I haven't met anyone on my way so I think I might be in the wrong direction" the man's face shows relief.

"I see. Is this your first time coming here?" Rindou asked. Now she seems to be more relaxed.

"Not really. I went to the middle school division but this academy is just really huge that I often forget how to get to places I rarely visit like the high school building" the man smiled and sratches his head.

"So you're also a freshman in the highschool division?"

"Right. Eh, by 'also' you mean, you too?"

"Yes. I am—"

Before Rindou could continue her sentence, a luxury white limo appears before them.

"Sorry to make you wait, Milady" the driver get out of the car and opens the back door for her.

"It's alright. I didn't wait for too long." Rindou reassures her driver

"By the way, would you like to come with me? You didn't bring umbrella with you, right?" Rindou offers a generous invitation.

"Eh? Is that okay?"

"It's fine"

"T-Then, if you insist it's rude for me to refuse your generousity"

The guy looks happy. Both of them took a seat on the back. If they go by car, they would reach their destination in ten minutes. They can still make it.

"By the way—" the man starts the conversation again.

"I still haven't introduced myself yet" said the man

"Oh my, me too. My name is Rindou Kobayashi. Starting today, I'll be in the first-year of high school division" Rindou introduced herself.

"I am Eishi Tsukasa. A fellow first-year" the man with silver hair replied.

"I see. Then how about I call you 'Tsukasa-kun'?"

"Sounds good. Let's get along as fellow first-year, Kobayashi-san!"

"Yes. Nice to meet you, Tsukasa-kun"


	2. Chapter 2

Rindou's high school life has been going for a month. But she haven't found anything extraordinary from it. It's just the usual cooking days. With her skill she could just pass the classes with minimum effort. And thus she's just doing passable efforts. Nothing happened that could make her exhaust her cooking, yet.

Today is Friday, if she's not mistaken. She's going to visit Momo Akanegakubo's classroom to spend the lunch break with her. Momo is not someone you can describe with the word 'tall' so she won't really stand out in the crowd, but her short purple hair wrapped in twintails makes her easily identifiable.

"Momo-cha~n!"

Rindou calls out to her cheerfully from the kitchen's door while waving her bento.

"If it isn't Rin. What's up?"

"It's lunch break, you know? Let's have lunch together!"

"Alright. Just wait a moment."

They have been like this since middle school. They like to spend lunch break together, and sometimes they compare each other's new dish.

As soon as Momo finished cleaning up they went for the courtyard.

"So, what did you have for the last class, Rin?"

Momo is the first to initiate the conversation while they're walking in the hallway.

"Italian cuisine"

Rindou answered in short. She's super cheerful today as usual. The difference is she doesn't wear her blazer on top of her sweater.

"How was it?"

"Just another day at the kitchen, I suppose"

"I see"

She knows. Momo is one of the people that know better that Rindou is the sort of person that needs a rival to keep her motivated to do her best. Someone that could whip her to give it her all. So far, Momo is the only person that fills the role but they rarely meet in the same class.

This makes Momo worried that Rindou's cooking might stagnate and grow dull. Because doesn't matter how much talent she has, that's just raw talent and there's still so much room for improvement. Momo learnt all this because it's Rindou is the one that serves as the wall she has to overcome. Rindou has more win against her in cooking contest as far as she can count and the motivation to defeat her is what makes Momo keep on trying hard.

If it has come to that, she's afraid that Rindou's ambition to be Tootsuki's number one will be no more. As someone who is also aiming for Tootsuki's top, this will make her fellow contender down by one but as Rindou's friend, she wouldn't want that.

"By the way, Rin, what did you make?"

"Me? Hmm, let's see…you'll see for yourself once we get there~!"

"I see"

"What about you, Momo-chan? What special dish did you make for today?"

"I didn't make any since you said you'll be making a large-portion enough for two persons"

"Geez. You don't have to be so obedient, you know. It's been a while since we traded lunch"

Before they realized it they already arrived at the courtyard. While looking for an empty seat Rindou came across a familiar sight. She found a guy sitting alone while eating yakisoba bun, looking depressed.

"Ah, Momo-chan! This way!"

She pulled Momo's hand to the seat where that guy eating yakisoba bun is.

"Good afternoon, Tsukasa-kun~!"

Rindou greets that man while smacking his shoulder from behind. It's Eishi Tsukasa, the freshman she helped on the first day of school back then. Eishi looks surprised that he almost dropped his bun.

"K-Kobayashi-san…you startled me"

Looks like Eishi haven't forgotten who the girl was. He was sitting alone on the bench with a half-eaten yakisoba bun on his hand. This is a rare sight indeed. Most of the students make their own lunch if they are not too lazy so you don't get to see people eating humble lunch such as yakisoba bun too often.

"What's this? You forgot to bring your lunch?"

"Umm, no..the truth is…"

"The truth is..?"

"I traded lunch with some friends and one of them said it's really good. Then the others started swarming on my lunch and before I realized it there were nothing left for me to eat. So I end up buying yakisoba bun from the cafeteria."

Eishi sulks and looking more depressed.

"I-Is that so.."

Rindou doesn't know how to react. It's sad to have your lunch box emptied before you could eat any but on the other hand it's awesome that people swarm over it. Could it be that Eishi is a really good cook?

"So, are you having lunch as well? Kobayashi-san?"

"Yes. It looks like there are no empty seat left. If you don't mind, can we sit with you?"

"I don't mind at all"

Momo still left unknowing who this guy is since it's unusual for Rindou to have male friends. There were many boys from middle school that has a crush on her confessed but those poor souls received nothing from Rindou in return.

"Momo-chan, this is Eishi Tsukasa-kun, the shelter-guy I told you about!"

So Rindou did tells Momo about what happened on the first day of school and about the unlucky guy she met. The way she calls him 'the shelter-guy' makes it sounds like he's something out of some creepy urban legend. Poor guy.

"Nice to meet you, I am Eishi Tsukasa. First-year"

"I'm Momo Akanegakubo, also a first-year. Nice to meet you."

Eishi smiled at the little girl but Momo just nods in return. Momo sure is not the most expressive kind of people.

"So, Rin, what special dish you make for today?"

Momo repeated the question Rindou asked her.

"Fufu, don't be surprised okay. Ta-dah!"

Rindou opened her lunchbox. There they found nothing but rice. Just rice. Plain white rice wrapped in banana leaves.

"Umm, Kobayashi-san..this is..?"

Momo seems a little bit confused.

"It's _nasi lemak_ , right?"

Looks like it's the first time Momo see this dish. Eishi, on the other hand, might know something about this strange food.

"Wow! I didn't expect you to know about this food, Tsukasa-kun!"

Rindou seems excited. Is the said dish is really that obscure?

"Uh, sorry. I didn't mean to interrupt you"

"It's alright! It's alright~! How can you tell?"

Leaning closer forward, Rindou is curious how did Eishi knows about the surprise dish.

"You used coconut milk, right? You did a good job bringing out the best of its smell to increase appetite. The aroma is tempting"

"That's right~! Do you want to try some? You have nothing left from your lunch, don't you?"

"E-Eh? But…"

"Feel free to try some~! Come on, Momo-chan! You try this too!"

"Well, I'll feel bad to refuse your generous offer. So, if you'll excuse me.."

"Let's dig in!"

Both Momo and Eishi grab some of Rindou's lunch with their chopsticks and put it in their mouth. Their reaction is completely in harmony.

"IT'S GOOD!"

Momo and Eishi seems completely immersed in the feeling. Rindou's dish is just that good. This dish Eishi calls ' _nasi lemak_ ' is completely plain from outside. It looks just like a bowl of rice put into banana leaves, and that's all. But the taste is not what they think.

"From outside, it looks like it's just plain white rice, but it has rich flavor in it. How did you do it, Rin?"

"Fufu, I heated coconut milk and then mixed various ingredients like garlic, ginger, and pandan leaves."

"I see. So the coconut milk is where the sweetness comes from."

"Could you try digging a little more?"

Momo dug into the rice a little.

"Dried fish?"

"Yup. Feel free to try~"

Momo and Eishi grabbed the dried fish.

"Whoa. It's salty! But wait, the saltiness of the fish doesn't overlap with the rice's. Actually, they are more like the same color with different shades!"

Eishi enjoyed the dried fish. And Momo who was initially surprised also comes to like this saltiness. The flavor of garlic and ginger fit in perfectly with the salt, making the dried fish and the rice inseparable from each other.

Before they realized it, Rindou's lunch box was already empty.

"So, how did you two like it?"

With her smug expression, Rindou asked for Momo and Eishi's opinion of her dish.

"I'm surprised. The dish has much more to offer than its appearance suggests"

"I know, right?"

"But I don't see this kind of this really often"

"Tsukasa-kun, what did you know about this dish?"

Rindou directed a question towards Eishi. The guy looks like he knew a thing or two about this dish.

"Umm. Let's see… _nasi lemak_ is originated from Malaysia. Coconut milk is an important part of this dish. If you have that, you can try various ingredients to make up the spices. In this case, Kobayashi-san used garlic, ginger, pandan leaves, and salt. The Southeast Asia region have been known for hundreds of years throughout the western world as the heaven of spices and ingredients. For that reason many countries like Malaysia, Thailand, or Indonesia has rich viariety of dishes"

"Wow, you sure know a lot, Tsukasa-kun!"

"Not really, it's just that a friend of mine have made similar dish using coconut milk before"

"By the way, Tsukasa-kun. Can I try out your dish next time?"

"Eh? B-But I don't know if it's good enough for anyone to try"

"Geez, you act all embarrassed but you said that your classmates ate all of your lunch because it's really good"

"Haha. Alright, because Kobayashi-san have helped me two times already, next time it's my turn to make a first-grade dish for you. Prepare yourself, alright?"

Eishi is not the brightest of people in terms of personality. But when he has made up his resolve he's kind of gives different vibe from the usual gloomy Eishi.

 _What's this? The sulky Tsukasa-kun can also be confident like this if he tries, huh?_

It's been a long time since Rindou feels this excited. After all she didn't expect anyone to recognize this dish. Let alone have a deep knowledge about it. But Eishi Tsukasa sure is a surprising guy.

After cleaning up her lunch box, she prepared to return to the class with Momo.

"Tsukasa-kun.."

Rindou tries to say something to Eishi before leaving. She's fidgeting a little. It's quite unusual for her to act like this.

"Yes?"

The guy gives a straight look to Rindou's face. Their eyes meet.

"That..um…can we be friends?"

Rindou just said it. When she said it there's actually no special meaning behind it. She started to value Eishi Tsukasa who can appreciate the true value of her cooking as her friend. It's just that it's the first time she actually says to someone that she wants to be their friend. Eishi gives a warm smile.

"Of course"

Rindou is a little bit embarrassed. But deep inside she has this pleasant feeling. She will have more friend to share things with and someone whom she could consider her equal.

With that, Rindou just made her first male friend in high-school. Shortly after that she left with Momo. But her chest still can't stop beating.

"Good for you, right?"

"W-What is, Momo-chan?"

"I mean, you don't have many friends don't you?"

"Geez. It's a cruel way to say that, you know"

"Fufu. Sorry"

Momo just smiled a little.

"But, you know, Rin"

"What is it?"

"I'm glad that you met Tsukasa-kun"

Momo's face shows relief. She lets out a smile that looks like it hides something behind

"Eh? What do you mean?"

The taller girl responds in confusion.

"Not telling~"

Actually sometimes Momo could tease Rindou if she feels like it.

"Sheesh"

"By the way, Rin, did you already received the notification?"

"What notification?"

"About the summer training camp for the first-years"

The said training camp is an obligatory program as a part of the first year curriculum where the students will stay for five days and six night to complete different kind of tasks each day and the failure to do so could end in expulsion. In short, it also serves as the first 'real' test the freshman of Tootsuki will face.

"Oh, that…I did. So, what about it?"

"They say that the real 'selection' begins there, you know?"  
"I see. That makes it more interesting then"

"You said that but don't get expelled before we could even have a real shokugeki, yeah?"

"The same goes for you~"


End file.
